Quilting has been both a craft and a hobby for many years. Typically, quilting involves making a quilt or another object from one or more pieces of fabric and may include a soft batting placed between layers of cloth. The pieces of cloth may even be sewn from smaller pieces of cloth in a decorative pattern. The actual quilting of the object is accomplished by sewing through the cloth layers and batting to both attach them together and to form a decorative pattern in the finished object. The quilted pattern which is sewn into the quilt may follow the pattern of individual pieces of cloth used to form the quilt, or may be different patters such as flowers or shapes. While it is understood that many different objects can be quilted, the present application will primarily refer to quilts and discuss the making of actual quilts for simplicity. It will be appreciated that the methods and devices discussed herein will apply to a variety of objects which are sewn in a like manner. Thus, the presently disclosed examples may be applied to various items such as clothing, quilts, blankets, sheets, drapes, etc.
Traditionally, persons have performed all of the sewing by hand, without the use of a machine. As sewing machines became more commonplace, persons would often use a sewing machine to sew individual cloth pieces together to create the larger surface of the quilt, and would then perform the quilting step by hand. As quilting became a more common hobby, quilting machines became available which could perform the quilting step much more quickly and easily than can be done by hand. Quilting machines typically have a larger throat than ordinary sewing machines, and provide increased freedom in moving the quilt relative to the machine (or vice versa). These machines, however, typically require that the user guide the fabric through the machine to sew the fabric.
There is a need for improved control of quilting machines. In particular, there is a need for providing stitch regulation for sewing machines such as quilting machines. There is a need for a sewing machine and for sewing machine control software which maintains consistent stitch length when the speed at which a person moves the cloth through the sewing machine changes.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several views of the drawings. Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention.